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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9337 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9337

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for increased 
              criminal and civil penalties for wage theft.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 9, 2024

   Mr. Magaziner (for himself, Ms. Balint, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Boyle of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. Carson, Ms. Chu, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Evans, Mr. Goldman 
   of New York, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Norton, Ms. 
 Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Porter, Ms. Schakowsky, Mrs. Sykes, Ms. 
 Tlaib, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Trone, and Mrs. Watson Coleman) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
                             the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for increased 
              criminal and civil penalties for wage theft.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Don't Stand for Taking Employed 
Americans' Livings Act'' or the ``Don't STEAL Act''.

SEC. 2. RIGHT TO FULL COMPENSATION.

    The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is amended by inserting after 
section 7 (29 U.S.C. 207) the following:

``SEC. 8. RIGHT TO FULL COMPENSATION.

    ``(a) In General.--In the case of an employment contract or other 
employment agreement, including a collective bargaining agreement, that 
specifies that an employer shall compensate an employee (who is 
described in subsection (b)) at a rate that is higher than the rate 
otherwise required under this Act, the employer shall compensate such 
employee at the rate specified in such contract or other employment 
agreement.
    ``(b) Employee Engaged In Commerce.--The requirement under 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to any employee who in any 
workweek is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for 
commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the 
production of goods for commerce.''.

SEC. 3. PENALTIES FOR WAGE THEFT.

    (a) Criminal Penalties.--Subsection (a) of section 16 of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Any person'' and inserting ``(1) Except 
        as provided by paragraph (2), any person'';
            (2) by striking ``subsection'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``paragraph''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2)(A) Any person who willfully violates section 3(m)(2)(B), 6, 
7, or 8 of this Act, relating to wages, shall be--
            ``(i) in the case of a violation of section 3(m)(2)(B), 6, 
        7, or 8 relating to unpaid wages, or unpaid overtime 
        compensation, in an amount greater than $1,000, fined in 
        accordance with title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for 
        not more than 5 years, or both; or
            ``(ii) in the case of a violation of section 3(m)(2)(B), 6, 
        7, or 8 relating to unpaid wages, or unpaid overtime 
        compensation, in an amount equal to or less than $1,000, fined 
        in accordance with title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for 
        not more than 1 year, or both.
    ``(B) In determining the amount of a fine under subparagraph (A), 
the following factors shall be considered:
            ``(i) The gravity of the violation, including the number of 
        employees affected and the value of the unlawfully kept wages.
            ``(ii) Whether the person charged has previously been 
        convicted for a violation of section 3(m)(2)(B), 6, 7, or 8.
            ``(iii) The appropriateness of the penalty given the size 
        of the business of the person convicted.''.
    (b) Funds for Wage and Hour Division.--Paragraph (5) of section 
16(e) of such Act is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``and fines collected under subsection 
        (a)(2) of this section'' after ``12''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following: ``Sums collected as 
        fines under subsection (a)(2) shall be applied by the Wage and 
        Hour Division of the Department of Labor to the costs of 
        enforcing sections 3(m)(2)(B), 6, 7, and 8.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to violations of section 3(m)(2)(B), 6, or 7 of the 
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 occurring on or after the date that is 
90 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>
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